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Authentic French Private Kitchen
2016-02-12 1327 views
In my ongoing quest of authentic French Onion Soup in Hong Kong, I came across Le Marron during an OpenRice search.  Since this is a "Members Only" establishment, I asked godbro XO if he's been here before, and he hasn't, so I made a reservation for the 2 of us.  When we arrived, all I had to do was fill out an application to become a member.Le Marron is tucked away in a commercial building in the busiest intersection of Causeway Bay!  However, once inside Le Marron, you forget about the hustle
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In my ongoing quest of authentic French Onion Soup in Hong Kong, I came across Le Marron during an OpenRice search.  Since this is a "Members Only" establishment, I asked godbro XO if he's been here before, and he hasn't, so I made a reservation for the 2 of us.  When we arrived, all I had to do was fill out an application to become a member.
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 Le Marron is tucked away in a commercial building in the busiest intersection of Causeway Bay!  However, once inside Le Marron, you forget about the hustle and bustle going on downstairs.  
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 The foyer of Le Marron is decorated with a piano and some wine and liquor bottles, and we were greeted by this teddy bear at the entrance.
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 Le Marron has a smoking balcony, which is a rare sight in the city.
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 To go with the decor of the restaurant, even the bathroom doors had a French theme to them.
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 Le Marron is partitioned into various smaller dining areas, and XO and I were seated in a secluded area towards the back of the restaurant.  The chandelier and rose petal lamp caught my attention even before we got settled in our seats!
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 They had the proper place setting, and water was offered on the table.
Marron Punch
$48
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 I decided to order the Marron Punch mocktail to start the evening.  The Marron Punch was very fruity and had a nice combo of pineapple and citrus flavors.

Le Marron charges $25 for bread and butter, which seems like an odd move at first, but on second thought, it makes sense since so many of my female friends frown at the thought of ingesting any carbs and have sworn off bread! Well, everyone knows that I'm a chubster, and I love bread so much that I make my own bread, so of course, I tried every type of bread in this basket!
Butter
$25
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Bread Basket
$25
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 The baguette had a crispy crust and soft insides, the breadstick was crunchy and had a nice herbal aroma, and the brioche had a good balance of sweetness and butter flavor.  All of the breads had a pleasant flour fragrance, which shows that they used high quality flour to make the bread.
Seared Scallops with Figs and Sesame Shitake Mushroom Salad
$160
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 The scallops were seared perfectly in the Seared Scallops with Figs and Sesame Shitake Mushroom Salad.  The scallops had the perfect caramelized crust with a soft tender inside.  The sesame shitake mushroom salad was surprisingly good!  I never expected a mushroom salad to be so fresh, and I didn't think that mushroom would go with a sesame dressing, but it was delicious!
Sauteed Frog Leg with Garlic Herb Butter in Crispy Basket
$128
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 For the Sauteed Frog Leg with Garlic Herb Butter in Crispy Basket, the frog legs were fried in a French preparation with a fluffy batter, and the garlic herb butter tasted similar to the "under bridge crab" seasoning.  The frog legs with garlic herb butter was tantalizing to the palate!
Steak Tartare with Melba Toast
$160
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 The only disappointment of the meal was the Steak Tartare with Melba Toast, which I think they overworked the steak, so it got too mushy and lost the proper texture of steak tartare.  The seasoning was on point, but the texture was just off.
Traditional French Onion Soup ''Au Gratin''
$95
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Traditional French Onion Soup ''Au Gratin''
$95
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 My highly-anticipated Traditional French Onion Soup "Au Gratin" was everything I had hoped for!  It had a nice thick layer of cheese on top, and as I lifted the cheese, I could see the completely soaked crouton, and underneath the crouton, I scooped up the broth along with shreds of caramelized onions.  The broth had a good meaty flavor without being overly salty, and it was a nice brown color versus the bland yellow broth a lot of other restaurants use.  The quality of this soup is similar to those I had in Paris!
Lime Sorbet
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 As part of a complete French meal, we were served a lime sorbet before our main course to clease our palate.

Since the onion soup was quite filling, XO and I decided to split our main and dessert courses.
Glazed Honey Pepper Female Barbary Duck Breast with Spaetzle and Madeira Jus
$220
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 For our main, we had the Glazed Honey Pepper Female Barbary Duck Breast with Spaetzle and Madeira Jus.  The duck breast had the perfect pink color, so it was very tender and juicy, and the skin was rendered to a nice crispiness.  The Madeira Jus complemented the duck breast perfectly with the right balance of sweet and tartness.  The critique would be the chef was a little heavy handed with the black pepper, so it was a bit spicy, and there was a little too much spaetzel on the plate.
Banana Caramel Cheese Cake Xangos
$75
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 For our dessert, we had the Banana Caramel Cheese Cake Xangos, which was like a deconstructed cheesecake wrapped in a crepe roll.  The crepe was crispy on the outside, and the filling of banana, cream cheese, and caramel was mushy and sweet, and the passion fruit sauce on the bottom had the acidity to cut through the sweetness of the dessert.  Most cheesecake desserts are quite heavy, but this dessert wasn't heavy at all.

Le Marron is an authentic French restaurant inside and out.  The food was authentically French which is the inside, and the decor matched the French theme on the outside.  Le Marron is a surprising find on my search of traditional French onion soup in the city, and I would come back when I get another craving for French onion soup!

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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    DETAILED RATING
    Taste
    Decor
    Service
    Hygiene
    Value
    Date of Visit
    2016-01-25
    Dining Method
    Dine In
    Spending Per Head
    $600 (Dinner)
    Recommended Dishes
    Marron Punch
    $ 48
    Butter
    $ 25
    Bread Basket
    $ 25
    Seared Scallops with Figs and Sesame Shitake Mushroom Salad
    $ 160
    Sauteed Frog Leg with Garlic Herb Butter in Crispy Basket
    $ 128
    Traditional French Onion Soup ''Au Gratin''
    $ 95
    Traditional French Onion Soup ''Au Gratin''
    $ 95
    Glazed Honey Pepper Female Barbary Duck Breast with Spaetzle and Madeira Jus
    $ 220
    Banana Caramel Cheese Cake Xangos
    $ 75